


Deep Under

by Mercurytail



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Atlantian Hanzo Shimada, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Hanzo is imprisoned after all., Inspired by Art, Laboratories, M/M, Moircy is only alluded to, Non-con is done by medical instruments, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Roleplay, Top Jesse McCree, but they are both switches, light gore/torture/blood, mainly, mer hanzo? but he's got leggies, not really blackwatch jesse but that age and look
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:40:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22160455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercurytail/pseuds/Mercurytail
Summary: "Most would say that death feels cold. Icy and weightless, as if being carried away in the arms of The Reaper herself. Quite similarly to life in the depths of the ocean actually, but much less pleasant."Jesse about let his mind slip into that easy wallow of bitter feelings and contempt he had for all his 'employers' that made him deal in nefarious acts. It was only through habit and shear will he managed to distract himself from asking those dangerous questions and thinking those morally bound thoughts.The creature was tacky under his fingers the mucus having dried a bit too much in the transport. He was thankful when he finally deposited it into the prepared pool of salt water at the lab and took up his post at the base of the tall glass wall, watching from his nice leather reclining seat as it stirred awake.~Being Captive and imprisoned deep within a nameless laboratory base buried within the earth and forced to endure relentless waking hours of torture was never a position Hanzo even imagined himself being in. But, After everything he couldn't bring himself to think it wasn't some how deserved. Amidst his new hell there was one ripple ruining its illusion. A human man by the name of Jesse McCree.~
Relationships: Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	1. A sinking feeling

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, My rp partner Feathers {https://iblackfeathers.tumblr.com/} Started this rp a while ago and we agreed it was okay for me to share it on here. It will be a similar format to our previous rp posted but, tertiary characters are shared and not given their own excerpts. (Ex: H: Hanzo gasped....etc)
> 
> H: Hanzo pov  
> J: Jesse McCree pov
> 
> Hope you enjoy! Will update as more comes out, as we are still currently working on it.
> 
> Could really use some feedback; Kudo's and Comments encouraged!

**H** : Most would say that death feels cold. Icy and weightless, as if being carried away in the arms of the reaper herself. Quite similarly to life in the depths of the ocean actually, but much less pleasant. Hanzo is, in fact, positive that he is dead or dying. His fate was sealed the moment that net had enveloped him, since the moment he'd first tasted the fresh air of dry land, above the ocean. Ever since gravity took its hold on him and weighed him down against the cold hard deck of a human vessel. Hanzo is positive that he will die, and the icy fingers of death had already kept him clutched in her grasp. But it wasn't cold as he'd expected. Cold, rough hands were replaced by a blanket of warmth that enveloped his body, shocking him into consciousness and opening his eyes finally. The water he'd been plunged into was warm, much too warm, like the shallow beaches on a hot summer day. His eyes darted around frantically, searching for answers, only to find more questions. The light was unnatural, the water much too clean, an invisible force that separated Hanzo from...what was clearly a human space. Equipment, furniture, a cold steel interior. There was something around his neck, something he could not see, only feel that it could not be removed. Hanzo was not dead, but he may soon wish he were.  


**J** : Jesse about let his mind slip into that easy wallow of bitter feelings and contempt he had for all his 'employers' that made him deal in nefarious acts. It was only through habit and shear will he managed to distract himself from asking those dangerous questions and thinking those morally bound thoughts. 

The creature was tacky under his fingers the mucus having dried a bit too much in the transport. He was thankful when he finally deposited it into the prepared pool of salt water at the lab and took up his post at the base of the tall glass wall, watching from his nice leather reclining seat as it stirred awake.

  
**H** : Initially, Hanzo had no idea what to think. He was more confused than anything else, and extremely so, especially considering he thought pretty confidently that he was dead but mere seconds earlier. Once his vision came fully into focus, he whipped his head around, taking in his surroundings as quickly as he could and still seeming unable to totally understand what the hell was going on. The space for humans, the glass, the uncomfortably warm water, the thing around his neck the- He blinked, paused a moment as he glanced down at himself, realizing with the weight of a ton of bricks that he didn't have a shred of clothing left to his name anymore. After a moment to take in the reality of his situation, Hanzo pushed the long strands of hair back and away from his field of vision and flattened down the fins against the sand to keep them from floating freely like they had. Then he saw the human. No more then a foot away form his tank, lounging, watching. closely. He was a big man too, bigger than Hanzo himself, and still fully clothed. His eyes were a warm color, but cold and distant as they remained locked onto Hanzo's form. Hanzo could do little more than stare back. This couldn't be happening. Hanzo's family, his people, had spent so many centuries being so so tedious and careful not to allow a single human's gaze to befall them. All that had been undone by Hanzo's carelessness, and the weight of it flattened every fin to the sand and pressed on his shoulders as his gaze remained locked on that of a human.

  
**J** : Jesse felt his chest quiver as his gaze met that of the humanoid slowly settling to the synthetic sand across the veil of glass that even now didn't make him feel any kind of safety. It was fortified and held back tons of pressure and had kept stronger and wilder beasts than the one it held now. Still, the haunting depth of those eyes--cold and dark--so human and so pained had him swallowing around his fear.

He pulled his eyes away and lit a cigarette to pull in that noxious calm into his lungs. The smoke billowed from his lips and then, on que the lights went out. Only the eerie light glowing from the tank floors lit the area, cameras always fixed at their contents.

The ember of his cigarette broke the solitude darkness for a brief moment before disappearing again. He didn't have anywhere to go. This was his only charge.  
  
**H** : Hanzo's eyes soon fixated on the human's mouth when their gaze finally broke. More specifically, the odd substance that left his lips when he took a deep breath and exhaled. Hanzo had never seen anything quite like that before; the mesmerizing billowing of the weird substance that left the glow of the object in his hand...Just when Hanzo was about to remind himself that there were more important matters at hand, everything went dark. It made him flinch, the fins along his body raising in alarm as he backs away from the human and furrows his brow, eyes darting around the space desperately searching for any sign of danger. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, as he was accustomed to doing when the deep waters became dark, but found difficulty adjusting to the unnatural and harsh blue light that kept his tank illuminated. Nothing else though. He could still see the glow of the object in the human's hand, mind still searching. He needed to escape. Whatever this was, he couldn't allow himself to be trapped this way any longer. He didn't know where this was, or how far he'd been taken from his home, but he couldn't let this continue. Shuffling back against the farthest corner of his tank in a futile attempt to keep himself from the human's view, the soft glow of his fins buried under the sand, Hanzo went still. He watched the human, and waited.  
  
**J** : He re-situated himself against the leather for a long night. His jeans wrinkled against his skin like worn out sandpaper--not comfortable but bearable--and he let his eyes gaze up to the top of the tank where the Laser grid sizzled silently. Nothing got in or out of the containment tanks without the Doctors say so. Even as the security he only had the key to the fire alarm of the building which only opened the dry containment cells. The tanks were fireproof.

He sneered before sniffing out his cigarette. The face wasn't at anything in particular but, it was more at himself and how he'd put himself in the seat he was in.

Pulled into deep water early in life. Deadlock got his name on the police watch by the age of fifteen. Life hadn't gone up since and work was nearly impossible to find unless it was something not completely honest.

Like the one that put him in the room watching this otherworldly creature. The thing that really got to him, though, was how good he was at that kind of work. It ate at him. He hated it. How thoroughly he could cover his tracks or swindle someone out of their own clothes.

But, what bothered him even more was how the humanoid creature floating like an angel in the water across from him made him feel the judgement even heavier on his shoulders with those dark stormy eyes.

 **H:** Hanzo stared long and hard until the tiny glimmer of light was gone, and the human became all but invisible to him. He could see a silhouette if he moved just right, but it was useless if the man were to try anything. Then again, what could he do? if Hanzo could not leave the tank (and he will find a way to), then the human couldn't get in either. Not without Hanzo noticing at least. Gently as he may look, entering the water with him would be a very big mistake on the human's part. A stupid one, that he was hoping the man was stupid enough to try. But he could only hope.  
Mind now set on his escape, Hanzo finally looked up to start figuring out what exactly he was dealing with here. There were mostly the harsh unnatural lights, and shaped oddly at that. The tank wasn't covered however, which made Hanzo particularly suspicious of the grid that stood between him and freedom. slowly, sand billowing from his fins, Hanzo began to rise to the surface and cautiously raise a hand to the barrier above him. It lit up his face, but as his hand drew closer, he could feel a heat coming off the light. Instinct told him it was not a good kind of warmth.

 **J** : "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He had no idea if the angelic aquatic creature even understood what he said but the flinch and retraction of it's hand like appendage was satisfactory enough for him. He could just let his charge injure itself on his watch. Dr. O'deorain wouldn't be happy if any damage came to her subject-any damage that she didn't inflict anyway.

He stood and walked up to the glass knocking his metal hand against it. The sound reminding him of the cold lack of flesh and replaced the feeling of bitterness of his position with that of disgust. He hated the deep water. The water where creatures-monsters- like the one three feet from him lurked. Like the one that took his arm.  
"Just settle and dance in the water like a good little fish. Don't want you goin' and voluntarily lopping off a cute fin."  


**H:** The sudden sound of the man's voice did make him flinch, merely by the sound of it even if he couldn't understand what he said at first. It was deep and smooth, but startlingly so, like the distant rumble of thunder. His gaze snapped back to the man's face to see him standing right up against the glass, figure illuminated by the harsh blue that came from the death trap above. Gaze locked on him once more, Hanzo slowly sank to the bottom again, his gaze narrowing at the harsh sound of the man's hand- his metal artificial hand that had Hanzo stopped dead in his tracks. A fake hand. Yet another human marvel that Hanzo had never seen before. Hadn't even known a thing like that was possible. Once he got over his shock, Hanzo was focused. Once he was, he could figure out the human's language fairly easily. It was only a slight alteration of latin, so his words began to process. Hanzo couldn't speak back, fortunately for the human, because the more the man spoke the more disgusted Hanzo became. His words were bitter, demeaning and humiliating. Talking to Hanzo like he were some helpless pet. an ornament. Eyes narrowed venomously, Hanzo could feel his lips drawing into a snarl, baring the needle sharp teeth. With a flick of his fins, his temper boiled over and he launched himself at the glass, ramming his body into it with a loud thud. His fins frilled around him like a cloud, teeth bared threateningly.  
  
**J** : Jesse gave himself credit but not flinching back at the slam of the creature against the glass as it lunged forward. The drop of sweat rolling down his back--hidden under the layers of his shirt and chestplate--was the only proof he'd even felt the slight fear of the blade sharp threat narrowing in on his throat.

A glint of teeth lit in blue appeared between his lips instead of the expression of shock or fear on his face. It morphed into a sense of cynical admiration within a few seconds. Jesse raised his metal hand to lay it flat on the glass level with his face. "Seems like you can hear me, just wonder if you even understand."

A child-like flicker of curiosity and wonder rose in his chest before his mask smothered any essense from rising to his eyes. The way its body flowed into the water, billowing as though tousled by the wind was more beautiful than anything he'd laid his eyes on. The closest image he could conjure up to even slightly compare to the grace is a memory, one from his youth, as he watched his mothers serape fluttering in the wind as she rode across the grass planes on horseback, the late evening sun bathing her in its pure golden light. 

He was one of so few--less than three other living humans--permitted to see the oil slick of color that was the singular existence breathing salt water in front of him.  
  
**H** : despite how desperately Hanzo wanted the man to flinch, to see even the slightest glimmer of fear in those cold unfeeling eyes that he glares into, he found nothing. They remained focused, shining in the cold blue light as if he felt nothing to stand before a creature unseen by man that could tear him apart with little effort. Damned glass keeping them apart. This man relies only on the strength of the glass between them for safety, but gods willing if Hanzo could tear that down and make that stupid smug glimmer in his eye disappear; to see terror in his eyes. That would make Hanzo truly happy. With another loud growl and another surge of emotion, he reels back and pounds his fist against the glass, causing a considerable shudder to reverberate through the glass.  
  
No, he couldn't. He had to pull himself together. Hanzo could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he glared coldly at the face of the human before, wishing so badly to see terror in his eyes, to hear him scream and beg for his life. He couldn't do that- not again. Such thoughts had been plaguing him lately, and they'd cost him everything. Gritting his teeth, his snarl slowly wilted and the bloodlust left his dark eyes, slowly forcing himself away from the glass. The man was disgusting without a doubt, and disgusted Hanzo was, the feeling written across his expressions as he slowly backed away from the glass, his fins flattening against his body.  
  
**J** : No matter how much he wanted to sit at the base of the glass and stare in innocent wonder upon his charge, he couldn't--wouldn;t-- let himself succumb to the desire. Jesse pulled his body 'round and settled again on his chair, the shadows shrouding him again as the leather squeaked under his weight. He was a large man, tall and broad shoulders with a medium build. Equipt with everything he needed to do his jobs well. A sharp wit and a bright smile among his many tools.

As time passes he did find himself allowing his eyes to linger longer and longer on the other. The fins were layered and long, like those of a beta or goldfish. It's hair deep pure black as if it was just ink that clung to the head, animated by some invisibles force of life.

He jolted alert at the touch of something against his hand and only after his heart stilled and he sat again did he realize the source. A single tear had dripped down and splattered like a weight from his eye. 

He froze. Had he been crying? No, he wasn't even fully alert he solved. He'd been dozing, only half awake by habit from years of night watches. In those moments not even he knew where his mind wandered. Cast into a dream state of thoughtless emotion and that fleeting freedom only children were privy to.  
  
**H:** Eventually hanzo had to settle himself back into the sand once it seemed the human wasn't about to do anything more to taunt him. Good for him. He returned to the farthest corner of the tank, fins settling back under the sand until he was safely laid at the bottom. It wasn't exactly camouflage, but it made him feel a little safer to watch the human as close as possible without the human watching back. Not that he would be able to tell. From then on, Hanzo remained still and motionless apart from the occasional sway of his hair in the tiny currents created within the confines of the tank. He refused to sleep a wink. Not with a human so close to him, not here. He had to think. They had to get to the tank somehow if they wanted to feed him or do....whatever it was they wanted. Keeping him in here to rot would be pointless. He would make easy work of mauling the nearest person and making a swift escape. At least he hoped so on land.  
  
**J** : Once he finished his little survey of himself and what had woken him Jesse allowed himself to close his eyes a moment lingering in the sweet relief the action wrought upon his body. He was tired. From what--he knew--he didn't know. Sleep was short but heavy in his mind day by day, never enough to rid him of the endless sense of exhaustion that plagued him. But still he ignored it. If it didn't get in the way of work it didn't matter.

When he opened again he lead his eyes over wet silk again, combing his gaze down the black ink of hair til he met those eyes again still...still wary of him. He instinctively pulled his gaze down and away from the challenge and to his water bottle at his feet. He took a sip, grateful for how the cold fluid soothed his dry mouth and rough throat.

It had to of been hours by now. The clock in his head telling him so. And yet the creature still watched. It was an intelligent choice. No other lower minded creature would be able to hold such focus for so long.

With that bit of knowledge he stepped forward and knelt at the glass again allowing his fingers to drum the barrier yet again. "I ain't allowed to touch you 'nless the doc's are here. You can relax a bit ya know. You'll be here a while no sense in exhausting' yourself right out the gate." He didn't know why he'd spoken the words. They were almost kind. Not something he allowed himself the privilege of being except to a select few. Something about this being struck him, he just didn't know what though.

"If you do understand, and since we're both stuck here for the time, I could answer some questions if you like." Why not add more on the pile? The flame was already lit, faning it wouldn't change the fact it would be doused soon as another walked in the door.  
  
**H** : Hanzo had in fact kept his gaze trained on the man- or the silhouette of him- for the entirety of the night. It had to have been close to morning by the time the human finally stirred, or the room was kept this pitch black luminescence on purpose. He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious for on his way here. gods if only he'd been more careful than he was...all this was so avoidable it makes Hanzo furious. He continues his icy stare even as the human looked right back, watched him move and wake himself up. They really did put one single human in here to watch him all night long. Hanzo didn't think humans were nocturnal...  
Then the human came closer and his guard went up immediately. Fins flared ever so slightly, unsettling a small cloud of sand at the sound of those cold robotic fingers drumming against the glass. More mockery he assumed. He could hardly understand the man through the strange dialect he took, but could understand nonetheless. He cared not for whatever it was he had to say, kindness or not. His words meant absolutely nothing, and his icy eyes narrowed even further, not wanting to hear another minute of it. Hanzo wouldn't humor this man by speaking, proving to these people that he was intelligent enough to talk. Hanzo wasn't stupid, and he was willing to die before he spoke a single word or let these people learn anything about him.  
Finally, for the first time in hours, Hanzo's gaze was drawn away from Jesse's form by the sound of the door and a new set of footsteps. Another human, another threat, a new reason to stay right where he is without moving a muscle.  
  
**J** : Jesse only slightly tensed when he heard the familiar sound of the laboratory doors. 'It was about that time's his inner clock reminded him. The heavy screeching way the metal slabs swung put an annoying ring in his ear that always followed with a slight delirium inducing headache. The lights blared on with an electrical him and Jesse could feel the layers of his retina screening for dear life at the sudden pain.

A woman, taller than him and with a nose that could kill walked in through the doors, each fall on her pointed leather loafers like a tap on glass. The sound lacked any kind of charm that heels maintained with the same movement.

Doctor O'deorain had a way of catching him with his pants down, as they say. He creased his eyes and pulled back from the glass and crooked his head In that way you see a kid do when they try to pay coy even though they know they were caught.

"Mornin' Doctor. Specimen didn't make a peep at all last night, hardly moved either. Did try to test the Laser grid though, kept him from doin' that thankfully." He refused to look up at her. Preferring to stare at the tank in place of submitting to her temporary authority over him.

"The lack of control you have with your mouth was inevitable, did the specimen response to your advances in anyway? If not, and you have no further information for me you may go for the morning. Doctor Zielger will retrieve you for the afternoon watch and examinations there after." She turned on heel pressing he'd had no greater knowledge to offer and he followed her with his eyes as she walked around the far side of the tank to her lab.  
  
**H** : The sight of this woman set Hanzo immediately on edge. As if he wasn't already. His eyes searched her as she somberly crossed the room, furrowing his brow as he took in more information. She was an intimidating person, this..doctor. Tall and thin, but strong looking regardless, and nothing but sharp angles. He hated most the way her eyes, two different colors he realized, were always searching, analyzing, but never feeling. There was a slyness about her and her supposed knowledge that made her seem...especially nefarious. She made him uncomfortable, needless to say. Even the guard, big strong man he was, seemed to feel the same way. Suddenly the man was no longer his top priority. This woman he followed closely with his eyes as she strode past him, tying to read her intentions. Whatever they were, they couldn't end well for Hanzo.  
  
**J** : Jesse let his body carried him forward the weight of it felt much like a lead barbell equivalent to a thousand pounds hung around his shoulders. His stomach an empty cavern. He didn't look back after he'd left the laboratory, he couldn't allow that of himself. 'no questions, no problems'. 

As he pulled his spoon through the sluggish hash of microwave braised short rib stew he began to let himself think individual thoughts. Since when had he become a man that bound his own moral and will in favor of keeping face or securing his job? It had never mattered to him how he made a living after he found work so hard to come by. Never again he swore, never again would he be the kid on the street begging for a morsel to fill his aching belly. No matter how the money filled his pocket, whether honest or otherwise it bought food and gave him freedom. Something not a lot of men had no a days.

The sun was creeping up over the horizon when his bed finally met the worn pockets of his jeans and he let his eyes fall shut.  
  
**H** : After a few moments of finally being left alone, Hanzo allowed himself to stretch. He finally lifted his curtains of fins from the bed of sand around him, slowly letting himself drift into the open water of the tank. It had only been less than a day of this, and for most of it without moving a muscle, but Hanzo was already feeling just how cramped and suffocating this tank is, especially compared to the entirety of the ocean in which he used to reside. The ocean...how he missed his clear blue vastness of water and colorful reefs of coral and fish, the hunting grounds where he would slay great whites for fish and food...Well, he wouldn't have any of that regardless. He would never see any of that again after the terrible things he did. Hanzo thought with a sinking heart that perhaps this tank is where people like him belong. Or perhaps an oil slick would be more fitting. After a long moment of silent thought, he began pacing as much as he could with what little space allowed. He needed to do something, anything to stave the anxiety of waiting to see the plans of these humans to unfold.  
  
**J** : He tossed and turned all night. The bed he'd been given wasn't of the lets just say 'highest quality', the springs much too harsh pressing into his back like a short blunt edged daggers all night.  
  
So when the kinder doctor knocked on his door he raised up with a groan and a crack reverberated around the room as he realigned his spinal cord into place. Sleep was sleep though and he was thankful for it.

"McCree, it is noon. Dr. O'deorain and I need your presence for the next round of treatments." With those words she was gone. Her heel taps trailing behind her down the hall.

He stood and dressed himself in his cleaner pair of clothes and did a quick once over in the mirror. His hair needed a wash and a comb. He ran his fingers through it and sprayed the noxious can of dry shampoo into the roots. Good enough he'd shower before he began the next night watch and eat a good meal. The kinder Doctor always let him sleep through his lunch time thinking she was doing him a kindness by letting him get a little more shut eye over filling his belly....even when she knew he often skipped breakfast.

The sterile steel halls were cold as always as he walked down to the containment lab and enter to see the blue light water tank there still, but this time half the water had been drained and the Laser grid downed.  
  
**H:** Hanzo couldn't tell immediately what was being done to his tank when he could no longer see the doctor. Foolishly, he had assumed that the danger had temporarily left him, so when the water's surface began to lower and uncover the very top of his head, all alarms went off in an instant. Flinching away from the surface and pressing flat against the bed of sand below, Hanzo looked up to find much to his misfortune that the water was being drained at a very alarming rate. His eyes went wide. He'd never seen such a thing before, although it looked quite eerily similar to the surface as the net had pulled him toward it back when this all began. With absolutely nowhere to go in the tiny space, his heart began racing and he started savoring each life giving breath he had while he had it. Then it stopped, and much to his surprise, the light of the laser grid died as well. Now could be his chance...if he dared poke his head above water to scope out the likelihood of escape. Chances are, the humans should not be underestimated, and this was all intentional. But he had no choice, and slowly he allowed his head down to his eyes emerge, ready to bury himself again at the next sign of danger.  
With a start, Hanzo heard the door and in an instant fled back to the bottom of his tiny little tank. gods he really was so helpless here on land, so easily trapped and contained and so close to death if his human captors merely chose to. When he whipped his head around to lock his gaze onto the door, he was met with that damned man again, the big strong guard no doubt here to keep Hanzo in check. How he would fail, if only Hanzo could get his claws on him. And that doctor...she was here too. Heart absolutely racing, Hanzo pressed flat against the bed, and kept his eyes not on the humans, but on the surface. The only way out, and the only way for them to reach him. If he couldn't get out, he sure as hell was going to drag someone in here with him.  
  
**J** : Jesse rounded the tank and stood next to the many bleating machines that the "doctor's" kept lined together like little chirping soldiers. The creature looked rigid, the fins much less relaxed as they'd been the night before. The translucent layer of tiny almost microscopic scales that lined it's body--like a barrier between it's skin and the water--looked paler in the harsh light of the fluorescents.

In the time it took for him to wait for any commands he let his eyes wander again The sharp detail of its bone structure and how it held itself, the wide build and flow of long fabric like fins all of it was breathtaking. Like an imagined beauty pulled from the pages of a book or the leather of a painted canvas. He'd dare admit to himself if the creature were human, he'd be damn gorgeous. Maybe Oriental. He likened it to the elegant beauty of a koi fish he'd seen once.

"McCree, if you would." The kind dr. Stood waiting needing to access the control panel on the side in the tank. He stepped aside.

The woman approached and typed furiously away the sound of her nails tip tapped and suddenly in response a slab of metal slid opening up a black void compartment inside the tank from which a small drone swam forth and angled itself at the specimen. A rod shot out within a fraction of a second carrying with it a line that within it too carried a serum that would tender the creature weaker but not helpless. Only incapacitated enough to work with. He watched as the sharp rod pierced scales and skin seeing the silver serum seeping into the flesh highlighting the veins as it flowed.  
  
**H** : At this point, Hanzo had no idea which h should be watching more closely; the surface, or prying eyes of the humans that surrounded him on all sides with strange machines, each one no doubt spelling death for himself. His eyes darted between the two, always glaring, searching, begging the question "what the hell is going on right now". Because Hanzo did not have a damn clue. Since the moment they pulled him from the ocean up until now, he had not a single damned clue. He knew nothing about humans, about their technology, their intentions...He didn't know, and that was the most terrifying part. He didn't know what to avoid, what to dodge, what to cling to or hide from. He was trapped in a world where he knew absolutely nothing, and it was already starting to drive him absolutely nuts. In a moment of desperation and fear, Hanzo drew his lips back into a fierce snarl, promising the fate of whoever dared come close to him. What a mistake that had been. He watched the people and the surface, but not the little drone that entered the water with him. He heard the faint hum, but by the time he could whip his head around to catch a glimpse of it, a sharp pain shot through his arm. It caused a jolt through him, a startle that caused his fins to flare and thrash out of the water. Alarm rang in his ears as he gripped at the rod and reached for the machine, claws extended and ready to kill, until his muscles simple failed him. Any move he attempted to make was immediately sedated, and his muscles ceased to work. He couldn't even bring himself to bare his teeth anymore, a pained growl escaping his parted lips as he just sank. Slowly, agonizingly and defeated, Hanzo sank into a corner along with the curtains of fins that shimmered and throbbed with the silver poison they pumped into him. Hatred, fear, it was all replaced with the sinking feeling of hopelessness. The kind that made Hanzo sick to his stomach and his eyes go wide. And it was all so easy for them to do.  
His chest continued heaving oxygen into his lungs, and his heart continued to pound with adrenaline, but there was nothing that energy could do to move his arms or his legs or fins. He felt trapped in his own body, asleep but awake. He could still look around and observe, but do nothing about it. If he could, Hanzo would tremble.  
  
**J** : Jesse pulled up his sleeves, taking care to make sure each fold of the flannel was tight and even. He hated the feel of wet fabric on his skin. It tended to catch uncomfortably on his many scars. For some reason, the skin was a bit tackier when wet, maybe because of the freshness or the lack of hair that the rest of his body had permeating it in a thin layer.

The two doctors drained the rest of the tank. The lack of any frivolous or decorative items that might trap water or give cover to the specimen was for pure efficiency. Proof enough that the tank was meant to be a cage and not a home.

Once drained he entered and pulled the creature into his arms--thankfully his chest plate kept water from soaking into his clothes for the most part--before turning and depositing it onto an exam table. Its skin had a soft woven texture almost like impossibly soft velvet. The fins were a nuisance and it took him a bit of time to figure out how to walk the distance needed without stepping on or tangling himself in the frilly bits. His job mostly done he stepped back.

The creature gaped like a fish, the gills adorning its chest like exposed ribs fluttered and quivered from the lack of water. It looked painful and Jesse cringed inwardly pulling his eyes away and to other areas of its body.

Thankfully, the doctors were not willing to let the creature die just yet and O'deorain slathered on a strange gel substance over each slit. Apparently it helped to resolve the problem and the creature gasped much like he would if he broke through the surface of water pulling in sweet air to restore his aching lungs.

He knew the pain well enough thought. Years of smoking causing build up of tar and slack in his lungs caused there to be a low hum of pain and soreness with each breath he took.  
  
**H** : It was agony, the fear that welled up in him, and the absolute stillness of his body, the helplessness. Hanzo watched in agonizing stillness as the water's continued to creep toward him, already bracing himself for the desperate struggle that was soon to come. Finally, he felt the cold fresh air against his ski. Gravity took its hold and flattened long strands of inky black hair to his face and arms, long curtains of fins like clouds now flattened like wet paper. Hanzo had never felt so vulnerable and scared in his entire life than these moments, with the big guard standing over him, putting his hands on him, moving his fins and brushing those rough fingers across his soft skin. If sent a jolt of icy chill down his spine, causing a shudder to stir his muscles. He could move, slowly, weakly, but he could move. It no longer mattered though. Like a ragdoll Hanzo could be carried with such little effort by the man, hanging limp in his arms as the breath he'd been holding began to wear off. Tiny grunts and gasps escaped his lips as he tried to draw breath to no avail. He tried to struggle when the cold table came as a shock to his skin, lift his arms, roll over anything. But nothing came. 

Finally, with a deep gasp, Hanzo's lungs no longer ached for oxygen, but he still couldn't quite breathe. He couldn't draw water into his gills, only open them pathetically, but the pain was gone. He took a few brief moments to get used to the sensation before attempting to move again. Slowly, teeth gritting with the effort, he moved his arm to the edge of the table and tried to pull himself across it. He felt like he weighed a ton, both by the new sensation of gravity and the pull of the drug, but he pushed through by sheer force of will. It wasn't much, but Hanzo was desperate, and he wouldn't go down without a fight. And with the effort, he did move himself over the edge of the table, willing to endure the fall if he could get there.  
  
**J** : He pulled his consciousness back to reality when Doctor Ziegler gave quite a jolt and yelp at the movement the creature had made. Dr. O'deorain simply frowned in the way a disapproving mother would at a child turning her nose up and eyeing Jesse with those piercing duo colored eyes.

He pulled his mouth over to one side and sucked a bit on his cheek, letting his tongue dance across the back of his teeth. Anything to waste time. He wasn't a servant ready to snap at any unsaid command. He did thought eventually round the table and pick up the heavy body again even as he felt it feebly fight against him. Jesse couldn't help but feel the pity sour in his gut. He wished they could just let it go. It was obviously of higher intelligence. The emotional pain reflecting across his face looked so human even with the extra scales and other amidites.

Laying him--at least that's what Jesse thought it was--down on the table again he watched as the Dr. raised a laser guard much like the baby railing he'd seen on his bed as a kid or well more like the guard rails on a hospital bed.  
  
**H** : Indeed, Hanzo fought. He did everything in his power-so very limited as it was-to escape the arms of the man who'd once more scooped him up in his arms as if he were no more than an unruly child. His claws flexed and fins jolted, but Hanzo was otherwise powerless. Who was he trying to kid? the drug was powerful and easily brought him to helplessness, and he still attempted escape with three humans and dry air all around him. There was nothing he could do without bringing death upon himself. But what would that matter? perhaps he should more strongly consider the merit of doing so...  
With a defeated sigh, Hanzo had to stop with the quiet hum of the laser grid around him. At that point, whether he were trying to escape or not, any wrong move would result in a pretty painful burn. He went completely still then, eyes turned toward the ceiling, gaze anxiously switching between the three humans standing over him. Nothing left his throat then, and he hoped beyond hope that his face didn't reflect the fear welled up in his chest.

Jesse frowned, the creases at the corners of his eyes sprouted out. Thankfully he was turned away enough to hide his expression. It wasn't even lunch time yet and cutting short wasn't how the diligent Dr. O'deorain operated. 

Jesse shook himself out, waking it up more and shaking out the stiffness of sleep to prepare it to carry the slick body that laid on the table across from him. 

Their slick skin required him to position his grip just right so he would slip and drop them like a wet fish, bit still gently enough he wouldn't hurt the poor thing.

As he neared the creature he slowed down each step fall coming just a fraction later as his brain absorbed the state in front of him.

The sickening acid taste rose in his throat--the kind that follows after one's had a bit harder of a ride than their stomach can handle--and his stomach turned harshly as the smell of blood and thick stench filled fluid.

He almost couldn't--didn't want to-- look, not just for the disgust but out of respect. The pitiful sight was haunting with the tear trails evident on the poor things cheeks, thick and crusting. The blood stain pooled between his spread legs and the thin trail dropping from a slip, a place he didn't think should ever bleed. It's body looked heavy as a rock, no doubt rendered useless by the sedative and yet he could feel the tenseness they showed. But what really got him, were those eyes. Cracked open to watch him but too exhausted to care or fight and yet so desperately wanted to scream and run. 

He lifted them up even more gently in his arms and walked up to the tank placing them inside as the water reached his shoulders. He'd waited a bit long.

Before he let go completely he folded the fins that extended from it's hips over the center of its body and wiped the tears so they would cause crust to turn. To gunk and make the eyes sticky and uncomfortable while they recovered from the serum.

Done he pulled back and excused himself, stating he needed to eat and shower before they needed him again. 

His boots lead him blindly back to his room. His appetite completely ruined he didn't bother looking at food. He was done.


	2. Choppy waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Here's chapter two!
> 
> if you like leave a comment! I'm extremely insecure and would love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> kudos! <3

**H** : It was a humiliating thing, watching the distant warmth of the eyes of the man McCree have access to every tortured and exposed part of Hanzo. Those eyes that watch tiredly from the shadows outside the tank, the eyes that Hanzo could once challenge and overpower with the strength of his own glare, the eyes that crinkle in the corners when the man grinned as he chuckled and mocked the poor creature in front of him. 

But this was different. Those eyes did not look so coldly on him in that moment as they took in everything that had become of what was once a very proud and stubborn creature. There was nothing but pity and disgust in those eyes, and the weight of it made Hanzo avert his gaze. The first time McCree ever managed to do so in fact. 

A quiet breath escaped Hanzo's lips as he was lifted- ever so caringly and gently- into the man's arms. It was more than that though. It was an embrace rather than a man hauling weight. Hanzo felt it in the way his heavy limbs falling limp with gravity were cradled and tucked in close to his body, calloused hands pressed against soft wet skin, his head tucked against the man's shoulder instead of falling limply backward. It was a foreign feeling, but a welcomed one. 

In the moments before those arms parted from Hanzo's pathetic form, he was left with a few final lasting touches that remained with Hanzo to soften the bitterness he felt. These things the man did when he didn't need to, wasn't ordered to. Things that didn't need to be done or faked. Little acts of kindness that soothed Hanzo and absolutely baffled him. But once again, they were so welcomed nonetheless.

When the man finally parted with him, Hanzo slowly sank like a rock to the soft sand at the bottom of the tank to rest, his body limp and muscles restless, mind still clamped under a vice like grip, but at the very least comfortable enough to fall into an uneasy rest. Sleep, however, would not come so easily this time, as the pain of today's operations continued to haunt him.

\--

**J** : That afternoon at his usual time--as to not raise suspicion--Jesse left his room feeling a bit more hollow than he had been that morning. He took his sweet time walking down the sterile steel halls to the lab and entered just as Angela was finishing cleaning up and locking up.

"Ah, Jesse. Since we finished early we would like you to clean the tank. Simply deposit the water into the filtration system and use the sterilizer spray system. The sand will drain with the rest. As you the specimen. Leave him on the table with diffuser gel on his gills. The sedative is packed in the bot and ready to be deployed. I'll see you tomorrow." She makes sure he's taken in every but of information and takes her leave out the door. This time locking it with her key.

Before he turns away from watching the door she'd left through he can already feel a weight in him. He doesn't have to look to know the creature is yet again crouched in the sand looking at him.

Although, not quite as menacingly as his prior experiences. He doesn't say a word. He doesn't have to know the other has nothing he wants to say or hear about from what he witnessed earlier.

He doesn't waste time peeling off his clothes. Just making to take off his shirt--a skin tight under armour shirt the only thing remaining on his torso-- and boots to switch them for a smock and work boots he keeps by the back wall for just the occasion.

He walks up to the tank, ready to start but, the idea of using the sedative causes him to pause a bit longer than purely necessary. He'd rather a void it if he can.

Standing there he places his hand on his hip and lifts the metal one to rap against the glass. "So-" he grimaces a but before continuing. "I've gotta clean this hear tank. For that you can't be in it." The pad of his thumb worries the inner lining of his pocket. "I ain't too keen on giving you that drug for this. So, I have a bargain for ya'. I let you walk around here, free while I do what I'm needin' to get done and you don't touch me or anything breakable." He looked into the others eyes and watched for any gleem of emotion. "We got a deal?"

**H** : Eventually Hanzo did indeed muster up the strength to move again, but it wasn't nearly as pleasant as the last time. It felt like recovering from a brutal cramp, his muscles locked up tight and refusing to move despite his ability to do so restored. Painfully, he forced himself to function once more, at least enough to sit up and cover himself properly once more.

It didn't take a genius to know that Hanzo was dead tired, and not just due to a lack of sleep. His eyes said enough as they followed the man's form through the room, silently listening to the demands of the doctor. After all this, he wasn't even allowed a proper night's sleep. How cruel.

Due to certain circumstances that won't be shared between the two, Hanzo had taken to sitting properly on his knees, securely cloaked in his fins in order to best hide as much as himself as possible. From there Hanzo watched with his cold, tired eyes, deep and dark as the farthest depths of the ocean as the man approached him. His eyes were tired, but they still posed a challenge. "choose your words wisely, human." they said. "I am in no mood for your nonsense". But they negated themselves too, their darkness speaking of how little Hanzo would be willing to do in response to said nonsense. 

Slowly, Hanzo agreed to the man's proposition with a nod. Being outside the water again would be unpleasant to say the least; cold, dry, difficult to breathe, vulnerable, and most of all the more difficult to nurse the incessant pain between his legs. But there was little he could do to disagree. 

And as if he signaled it himself, the water began to slowly drain from Hanzo's tank. Those dark eyes from the sand below continued their cautious watch on the man as he approached.

**J** : Jesse held the respiration jelly stuff in hand as he opened the door to the tank, the water already having drained and the sand on its way out. The little brushes and water sprayers spitting at the grains and clearing every last bit into the drain.

He stepped down and stopped looking at the other for a moment in an attempt to gage if he would be attacked or not if he made any wrong move. Slowly he inched forward to stand just out of arm's reach and held up the gel. "I gotta apply this so you can breath, stand before ya' pass out." He was a bit frazzled as he said it, remembering only just as he came face to face--witnessing the details of those scales once again--that the creature couldn't actually breath like he did.

**H** : Hanzo was sure to take one last, deep breath in before the water receded past his form. Despite everything that had happened, Hanzo still wasn't exactly used to being openly outside the water like he is now. Perhaps this time felt especially foreign as this was his first time out of water with the freedom to move. Well, "freedom" is a word used very lightly. His muscles were still much too slow to respond for him to do any real moving, and his head felt clouded, full of cotton from a mix of lack of sleep and the events of mere hours ago. 

Hanzo's sluggish arms reached slowly to move his hair out of his face as gravity took hold of him, refusing to look up at the man from such a position of submission. It made Hanzo sick to be in such a state before a human, but he had bigger things to worry about. 

Stand. Could he stand? Sure Hanzo had legs, but they were no longer built for walking the ground under the force of raw gravity, however strong they were. Not to mention the state the serum left him in. Still willing to try for the sake of oxygen, Hanzo leant back against the wet glass, shuddering at the feeling, pressing his hand against it as well. His feet sunk into the sand as he slowly pushed himself up. Eventually, Hanzo was standing on his own two legs, but the effort was a pathetic one. There was a moment, just a brief moment of hesitation, before Hanzo slowly moved his arms and fins, exposing his struggling gills to the man in front of him.

**J** : The instinct to help the poor thing in front of him was strong in his chest. They looked like a fresh born doe just out of their mother trying to stand and take their first steps. He held himself back for the better interest of them both, unsure of the boundaries he could cross by doing anything that could be seen as menacing.

Assuming they were waiting on him to act he pulled the gel out of its container and used the syringe like tube to apply it to each gill. The pink feathery skin that laid just under the open slits of scales fluttered as the oxygen began to flow softly again. Not a deep breath but, enough to keep the other alive and conscious at least.

"There. Can you walk?" He decided to ask--even though it could be interpreted as a bit insulting-- was a precaution he was willing to take to avoid the possibility of the doctors "specimen" falling and injuring themselves due to Jesse's negligence.

**H** : Hanzo was silently grateful for the relief the ointment brought him as his gills took in a deep, artificial breath. He hated having the man help him like this. He knew he was at his mercy already, but at this point he was beginning to rely entirely on him. The only saving grace Hanzo had was those eyes, lacking in their usual distance and smugness. They remained warm and forgiving, but they pitied him. Hanzo could see the pity in those eyes, and hated it.

Definitely, Hanzo attempted to walk on his own. He'd be damned if he'd get the man to carry him around like a baby when he wasn't under the influence of those sedatives. But he could barely manage to do so, even leaning against the glass. Despite this being an obvious fact, Hanzo pushed on toward the way out of the tank. If he did anything for himself it would at least be to drag himself toward freedom, not dragged out for the purpose of anyone else. Before he could get there though, his muscles seemed to give way finally, his legs trembling and folding under him as he collapses into the sand.

**J** : Jesse lunged to try and support the others fall. His hands fell against the moist and slippery body each grasping under the supposed equivalent of the creatures waste--almost in vain due to the slickness--only to flinch back and release the other as if he were made of searing hot coals.

"Stop bein' so prideful now. Only gonna get ya'self hurt." Why he hadn't anticipated the outcome of his actions was beyond him. It was so sorely obvious the exhaustion of its captivity had drained them to the point it threaded the line between the proud creature it held itself to be and a shriveled husk of it's former self.

That aside, the crisis averted he stood and rounded the other to kneel in front. "Will ya let me help ya'. Ya' won't sleep, you won't eat, heck right now ya' can barely breathe or see straight. There ain't no shame in askin' for a bit of help when ya' need it." His words were an echo in his own head. He'd heard them before from someone else a long time ago. Good advice that held a good memory alive for him.

**H** : Some part of Hanzo anticipated the man’s next move the moment his knees buckled, but his reaction was immediate. The moment he felt the man’s rough hands on him- his waist of all places, where his hands could wrap rather snugly in the narrow curves- Hanzo flared the spines under his fins and and fell back against the glass behind him. He couldn’t move his fins nearly in the way he could under the water, omg them look more like soaked cloth draped over long, sharp quills filled with venom. Still, his gaze remained averted as he listened to the man talk. He was often stubborn, and would refuse to believe the things the man said, but for the time being Hanzo was much too exhausted to even begin to think otherwise. He simply remained pressed against the glass, his back to the man as he kept himself hidden. His silence wasn’t exactly a yes, but it wasn’t a no either, a point driven further by how easily he allowed himself to be scooped up into McCree’s arms. He silently longed for that embrace again, all but curling into the man’s arms and resting his head against his chest. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable nestling in, but it was far from the tense fight he’s put up in the past.

**J** : He'd expected a bit more of a fuss from the bristling kit but, he really wasn't going to complain. It was lucky enough he hadn't been skewered by those spinse that needled the others back.

Either way, he lifted them into his arms and brought them over to his chair. The leather could do with a good oil rub--what with just how old it was--but, the moist touch of the fishman in his arms would have to do.

Making sure they were safely seated he nodded his head to his water bottle--the ever present soldiers--that sat at the chairs foot. "If ya' need it. Have a drink." 

Jesse gave a pause not really sure if there was much else before he gave a slow nod--struggling, pursing his lips, and rolling his eyes as if to say 'alrighty then I'm gonna just go now'--and turned to begin completing the thing he was asked to do.

**H** : Hanzo slowly allowed himself to be lowered into the smooth leather of the seat- the one he recognized as the man’s designated night watch post where he would sleep. Rough in some parts where the leather cracked or ripped, but smooth against his wet skin nonetheless. Hanzo settled himself into the seat, tucking his legs in against himself and letting his fins lay as comfortably as possible, letting none of them touch the floor despite their sprawling nature. His eyes still remained focused on the man if only due to habit, listening silently to his orders or suggestions until he left to do what he needed. Hanzo was in no mood to talk back anyway. As the man got busy with the now completely empty tank, Hanzo took to trying to get as comfortable as possible in these circumstances. His legs shifted under him until he sat on his hip and laid on his side, shrugging his shoulders against the back of the seat so he could watch the man work.

**J** : The other certainly looked a lot more comfortable on his chair than the exam table. Jesse was keen on avoiding that option to keep from upsetting his fishman friend. '* 'Seems really prideful, kinda like a peacock with all them fins spreading every which away.*' he smiled letting his lips curl back and expose a bright smile at the antics his wandering thoughts conjured up in his head. To imagine the creature bristled and strutting through the water, with their nose high as the sky- 

"Hahaha, gasp haha heh" he couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up out of him as he scrubbed the corners of the tank with the brush.

It was obvious before he even looked that that had definitely grabbed their fill attention and he struggled to hold back the snicker the snear he received caused to follow.

"So-" he turned back to his work. Instead of letting his mind wonder in idle mischief he could harp up a conversation instead. "What's your name? I reckon you can trust me enough with that now."

**H** : Hanzo did indeed scowl and- much to Jesse's amusement- turn his nose up at the notion of being mocked by this man like he was. Hanzo didn’t exactly have mind enough to think to do otherwise. His mind was in default so his reaction was immediate, otherwise he would not have made such an emotional display. Eyes already narrowed, Hanzo simply scoffed and turned his head away from the question. He did not in fact trust the man nearly enough to sell away something as precious as his name.

His voice certainly showed the delayed statement of his brain at the moment, a slight slur of words. “Do not speak to me.”

**J** : Jesse finished brushing and went to the controls to begin the sanitation process. "Aw you're just bein' cruel. Yer the only one I got to talk to. Ain't nobody else but the doctors ever come down here."

He watched as the sprayers cycled in tiny circles, spraying away the bits of sand left behind and the green sanitizer sizzling away the bacteria.

**H** : Hanzo watched silently, almost in curious awe at the machines as they worked. Much like everything on the surface so far, Hanzo had never seen anything like it in his life, commonplace as it must be for the man. In doing so, Hanzo also did his best to ignore the man as he spoke to him. Hanzo couldn’t care less how much conversation McCree got in a day, he wouldn’t find it with the creature that he helped torture. With another sneer, Hanzo shifted once more in his seat to sit up a bit straighter, tucking his legs in closer to himself. “You...leave me alone.” Despite his words, his tone was not nearly as biting as the spitting insults he’d thrown to the man before. His words became half hearted and lazy, as if it weren’t worth the effort to insult the man

**J** : "Any who..." He continued to ignore the distasting attitude of his--not exactly willing--conversational partner. "The fish I got for your dinner tonight ain't much special. Just a Golden eye red snapper." He grinned and walked away from the humming console to the other corner of the lab where the window to the feed room was. It let out an annoying white glow as he pulled it open. The light was enough to pain him and make his eyes scrunch up causing him to pick around for the bucket handle just by touch.

Knowing where the other had been found really helped him make a good guess of what the other liked to eat. The Mariana trench was just a hop skip and a jump away from Japan and the dotted islands of the Philippines. Picking a medium depth fish from just around that region had to be some kind of ace in the hole.

Jesse wanted them to eat. His memories of how it had felt to live on rock bottom and have nothing but ribs scraping his stomach surfaced before he rubbed them away and took the bucket to his chair and charge there in. "They're a good size. There's a couple of um too. Fresh. Just pulled um out of cryostasis before coming down."

**H** : Hanzo’s ears pricked as he watched the light through the doorway as McCree rummaged around for something. The smell of fish was almost immediate as it wafted into the room. As if on cue, his stomach growled to remind him that it had been at least a few days since he’d eaten a single morsel. Good. Hopefully in due time Hanzo would waste away and be done with this nightmare, leaving nothing but his body behind. It certainly wouldn’t lead them to finding the others.

**H** : Before he knew it, the man was standing before Hanzo again with a bucket of fish. He must’ve really been deep in thought about food. Furrowing his brow, Hanzo immediately shuffled back as far as he could, which wasn’t much, leaning back against the chair. No way in hell was McCree going to start feeding Hanzo while he was in such a vulnerable state. But the longer he glared at the man, the more he couldn’t help but look down at the gorgeous bright red in that bucket. Kinmedai...privilege to catch, and even more of one to actually eat. And there they were, free for the taking. But Hanzo had to avert his gaze and resist.

**J** : Jesse stands there waiting with the bucket offered. He had enough time the cleaning cycle on the tank was only half through. "So, you want it? Don't be shy now. I'll look away if ya' like." He pulled out one of the meter long fish and held it to the other.

After a bit of awkward pause with nothing happening Jesse grimaces and sighs. "Ya' know to be honest. To me it don't look like you've really made up your mind yet. Cause most of this looks like real useless brooding. So, let me ask ya' honest." Jesse kneels down in front of the other--ignoring the danger, he could defend himself well enough-- "Do you really want to die? Or are ya' trying to repent for something? Cause, I'd really don't wanna see you wither."

**H** : For the time being, Hanzo continued to resist the fish. At this point it had less of a purpose than sheer resolve and stubbornness. It became a habit to tell himself not to eat. Not just for the end goal of dying eventually, but for the principle of resisting the wishes of these people. Whatever they want him to do, Hanzo will do the opposite to the best of his abilities.

The man's words however turned Hanzo's gaze entirely on him. Perhaps it was more obvious than Hanzo wanted, but Jesse had caught on to his tendencies as self destructive more than anything. Brooding. Perhaps it is brooding, as much as Hanzo hated to admit it. With his stubborn resistance to the things these people do to him, he also tended to resist a helping hand as well. It was a way of living that Hanzo had long since adapted to. But that was the real question wasn't it. Did Hanzo want to die badly enough to do it directly, or is he just kidding himself? 

Shaking his head and looking away from the man again, Hanzo set his jaw with a huff. "If I escape then I escape...But until I find a way to do so, I will wither and leave nothing behind for you people to use. I have nothing left for me to return to." Hanzo spoke quietly but sharply, but still unsure of what exactly he should say. He didn't know himself. He was confused and scared but still fighting until the bitter end, even if he brought the end upon himself. 

"...perhaps I don't have a reason to do so. My life holds little value."

**J** : Jesse huffed. "Ya' seem to have it a bit backwards." He stood and returned the fish to the bucket before putting it all back where he'd gotten it from. He goes to the kiosk prepared to start the finishing clear spray and start the tank filling again. "If ya' don't eat or take care of yourself the best ya' can even with being here. There ain't a lick of a chance you're gonna even have an opening to escape."

Jesse was getting tired. He was getting fed up too. He'd tried to be nice, hoping that maybe this fish was more human than anyone really understood, but he wasn't a bleeding heart. Nowhere near it. Just the threads of curiosity and the quivering remains of his once honest heart was what led him to offer his hand in a peace gesture, maybe to create a way of change for the better for the both of them. But, If his hand was gonna keep getting snapped he would stop offering. "If ya' don't want me bein' nice. I'll stop. I'll stop talkin' too. Ain't gotta hear me blabber no more. I'll be that dumb single minded human killing machine ya' expect me ta' be." Finally, the water at ankle depth he turns to the other and lifts him up in his arms--the lack of gentleness is obvious--walking them back to the tank. "Like you've said ain't none of this any skin off my bones."

**H** : Hanzo scoffed at the man's words. Hanzo was never one to entirely give up hope- he was just stubborn like that- even if he sold himself to act like things are hopeless at times. Redemption and a future for himself were hopeless things, but simple things like being spiteful to his enemies by escaping them were never a hopeless endeavor. Even his death would be in spite- Hanzo would make sure of that. 

As the man continued though, Hanzo's mind began to shift, mostly in response to the unexpected things he said. Sure Hanzo thought he would be relieved to hear those things come from the man after spending much of his nights trying to get McCree to shut the hell up, but now that it was truly happening, Hanzo couldn't help the heavy feeling that tugged at his heart. The sudden jerk of the man's arms as they pulled him from his seat elicited a grunt from him, his own arms almost scrambling for purchase to hold on as he was whisked off back to the dreaded tank. Hanzo couldn't help the growl that escaped him too. It felt like a betrayal, even when in the back of his mind he knew that Jesse was never on his side, and that his true colors were brought out by Hanzo himself. Still, Hanzo remained in denial, mostly due to the ache in his chest. 

Hanzo began to squirm in his arms, responding the only way he knew how. To fight and be in spite. He didn't want to go back, and he didn't appreciate the new attitude McCree had taken on. And Hanzo was in no state to think clearly either. 

"I don't have to be nice either. I don't have to play your stupid games and I'm not going back in that wretched thing!" 

Emotions were high, and Hanzo was beginning to regain strength from the serum. With a fit of this newfound energy, Hanzo lashed out and kicked and clawed at the man. 

"If you think I should make quick work of dying then you should do it yourself!"

**J** : "Too bad for you, that ain't part of my job description sweet heart." Jesse threw the fish into the tank and locked the barriers. The laser grid zapping into place with a press of the emergency button. 


	3. Slipping Under

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D Back again!
> 
> Ready for a complete 180? hehehe
> 
> Made sure this chapter was a bit longer since last chapter was a bit short.  
> Hope you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts at the end in a comment.  
> Even if its just a: <3 It'll make my day.

J: Littered in scratches and bleeding he took to stand at the doctor's cupboard in search of dressings.

Seven gauze and a canister of healers fog was all he found useful enough for himself and he set to bandaging after slumping down into his chair.

After an hour the lights went out as normal. The darkness engulfed him again and the blue glow around the tank illuminated the fish he'd become spiteful against himself.  
  
H: Another growl escaped Hanzo as he splashed into the water below, thankfully just filled enough that he didn't simply collide with the hard floor. He flipped himself around, thrashing in the water in frustration until he was upright and settled into the sad once more. Gritting his teeth hanzo spitefully rubbed away the ointment still clinging to his gills. He hated it, and he hated that Jesse was the one who put his hands on him to give it to him. With that as the only thing on Hanzo's mind, he once more retreated into a corner of his lonely tank and just hated. 

He remained that way for hours after the lights had shut off. It would be another long night, and there were no words that either person wished to exchange with each other. If Jesse hated, then so did Hanzo. 

Eventually though, Hanzo's blood no longer boiled, and his frantic mind became calm once more. Like the aftermath of a storm, he was calm. And in newfound clarity, he could think. He thought about what Jesse said, and he thought about his death. Or perhaps the lack thereof, if Jesse expected it of him. It was rather pathetic, this suicidal endeavor, but why should Jesse care? Why would anyone care in what way Hanzo chose to whittle himself down to nothing? In this situation, perhaps it was merely a way to keep Hanzo from taking their precious research samples with him. But there was no way of telling. The man however undoubtedly had a soft spot in his heart for whatever reason, that much was made clear by the things he did that he didn't need to. A weakness perhaps. One that Hanzo could play in his favor. 

Perhaps it was time Hanzo began to make his move and set forth a plan for himself.  
Once his mind had settled on what he must do, Hanzo's gaze returned to the dark silhouette of the man just outside the cold blue light. How Hanzo felt about the man no longer mattered. Now all there is is how the man feels about him. Slowly, Hanzo allowed his tensed fins to unfurl from his body to allow him to move. His face earnest and mind made up, Hanzo approached the glass, settling on his knees in front of it. He thought of what the man might want to hear at a time like this. 

"...I want to apologize"  
  
J: Jesse snarled as he woke from his hazy half sleep state. With the locks on the doors like they were, he didn't have any need to be on high alert with anything. Especially not a suicidal fish wasting away as his charge.

\--

'fuck it,' he'd thought after a couple hours of sitting--nursing his wounded self-- and staring back at those hate filled eyes. He didn't see anymore rhyme nor reason in giving a damn about a creature so drowned--pun intended--in its own self pity.

He was done with the whole lot of it. 'yeah,' he continued to puff himself up. This would be the first and apparently last time he'd try being a decent human being. Apparently he just wasn't fit for it. 

'might as well be the bad guy like everyone says you are.' he slumped down into the leather around him as the steady hum of the healing fog canister sewed up his cuts.

As he drifted off he grumbled 'fuck it all.'

\--

Well, at least he thought he was done. Thing was, Jesse was a sucker for hope. And with just those words the fish had given him a line and he was nipping at the bit to take it.

Still, he wasn't stupid.

He didn't respond. He wasn't gonna talk like he said. But, he wasn't that stubborn.

"Mmm, don't seem like that's much in your character, fishlips."  
  
H: Hanzo made a face at the name- as he wanted to do every time the man used such strange addresses for Hanzo- but persisted nonetheless. Being soft was not in character for Hanzo, as Jesse had said, but he needed to make it happen and it needed to be believable. Which meant thankfully for him, he didn't need to love all over the man right off the bat.   
With a little frown, Hanzo leaned against the glass. He was still exhausted himself. 

"No, it is not. Perhaps you've already broken me." Hanzo said this rather spitefully, just so neither of them forgot exactly what kind of peril Hanzo was still living in.   
"...But I am being honest. I think..." Hanzo hesitated. He didn't want to admit this to himself, much less the man, but he must be honest if this is going to work.   
"I need your kindness...I will grow to miss it.."  
  
J: "Uhhhuh," unsurprisingly that was hard for him to believe. It seemed to Jesse he'd just tripped a wire with a bit of unintended reverse psychology with his outburst. 

Who was he kidding. If it worked so be it. "K, so? I'm waiting and I don't hear no apology yet." Two could play this game, ultimately it was him that held all the aces.  
  
H: Hanzo didn't exactly expect much better. For the time being, Hanzo didn't aim to win the game right out the gate, but simply to start playing to begin with. From there, Hanzo at least had some strings to pull.   
Hanzo let out a sigh and closed his eyes a moment, leaning his head against the glass. His eyes were tired, and ultimately he truly was defeated enough to bring him to this point, that much was obvious just by the lack of power he wielded upon first arriving here. And when he spoke, there was no venom in his words.   
"..Jesse" He spoke the man's name for the first time. "I am sorry. I..have not been grateful for your kindness.."  
  
J: "No, ya haven't. So, since you're smart enough to remember my name it seems. Why don't you give me your as a little olive branch, as they say." He knew that Hanzo still couldn't see him shrouded in darkness as he was but still, he let his smile crack through.  
  
H: It was finally the moment that Hanzo had been dreading. His eyes flashed in the man's direction once it was requested of him, but the longer the silence stretched on, the smaller his window of opportunity became. He had nothing left to lose not. When he spoke again, it split the heavy and tense silence like a knife. 

"...My name is Hanzo. Shimada, Hanzo"  
  
J: Jesse let just about the same length of silence stretch on after the other had finally given him a name.

"Hanzo," he tested it on his tongue. It was most certainly Japanese. So he felt safe on assuming the people Hanzo's come from liked to adopt at least some human aspects. But, now wasn't the time to say anything like that. Plus, he wasn't the curious type too much. Not like the doctors.

"Alright. So, Hanzo what's got you talkin' all of a sudden? My little threat scare ya that much? Now did ya' have a little self preservation awakenin' when I was dozing off  
  
H: The tone in the man's voice made Hanzo squirm, if only just slightly. That accusatory tone, the emphasis on his name, it was all too familiar. A tone of voice that only his father took when Hanzo's behavior was anything less than satisfactory. He looked away, once more feeling like a little kid defending himself. 

"...I don't know. Your words just made me think, that's all. I just..didn't realize how much I liked being treated kindly until now." He wasn't exactly lying.

Hanzo then deciding that pushing the matter would only work against him. That's what the man expected him to do. But Hanzo did what Jesse did to him; once he was done speaking, he slowly backed away again, turning away from the man so he could sink back into the sand. He was still in physical pain nonetheless, and wanted to nurse it anyway.   
"you don't have to accept my apology. I just wanted to say it..."  
  
J: Jesse perked his brows a smile rising on his lips yet again. A soft jovial laugh followed it and he stood to walk into the light.

"I'll accept it," he placed his hand on the glass again much like he had the first night. "I'll even agree to keep bein' nice to ya'. Under one condition."  
  
H: Hanzo’s wars perked up at that, a slight twitch that made the fins flutter slightly. He turned his head to glance back at the man. Something about the sudden attitude change and that smile made Hanzo unsure “...what?”  
  
J: Jesse basked in the unease he attained from Hanzo. The bristle of fins was just too cute. "Heh, you're cute when you bristle like that ya know." He stalled  
  
H: The comment was almost enough to make Hanzo break his character and scowl; he did only slightly, perhaps just enough to remind the man that he was still himself in there despite his pleas for kindness. The unnecessary comment only served to bristle him even more “...just tell me what you want.”  


J: Times up. Heh, he'd stretched as much patience from Hanzo as he could get for now and he liked what he saw. Maybe the personality under nether everything--the stress, the spite, and the resentment--he could turn out to be quite the spit fire.

Jesse could respect someone like that. Someone like him.

"Alright I won't tease ya'. My condition is that ya' talk with me everyday."  
"Ya' ain't gotta be nice. Heck I encourage ya' to just do what comes natural. Just speak with me."  
  
H: The request almost made Hanzo blink in confusion, though his fins did twitch back into their more comfortably flattened state. Hanzo tilted his head just slightly, eyes narrowed. It was a strange thing to ask knowing the man could have asked anything of Hanzo. Heck they already talked on a near daily basis to begin with. But whatever he wanted. It could have been a lot worse, he supposed. “Fine. I will talk with you” And he certainly intended to exploit his freedom to be rude.  


J: He blooms with content. Finally he got one thing he wanted out of all this. Out of being stuck down here doing this job. Doing back handed dubious work. And especially having to take care of lost case after lost case. 

Another mind to bounce his words off of that maybe would consider what he had to say. All danger that this creature could use him lost to him for now any way.

Gleeful, Jesse backed up and sat back in his chair, taking a long sip from his water bottle. "Ya' tuckered out for tonight? Or would ya' like to maybe talk for a bit?"  
  
H: Once it seemed the man was finally contented with Hanzo’s answer, he allowed himself to settle once more in the sand. Not nestled back into his corner essentially, not not pressed against the front either. And as much as he would like to put this to a stop and say he was tired, Hanzo admitted to himself that he didn’t plan on sleeping anyway. He never did. “I...don’t think I can sleep. We can talk I suppose..”

J: Jesse didn't expect such an open answer so soon. But, he was delighted either way. Unprepared as he was and short anything substantial to really talk about Jesse mused about his options. Even if he lacked a topic of interest, he'd always been good at talking nonsense til he lead them both to something he could actually show interest to.

"Mmmm. Got any questions for me?" Might as well start with that.  


H: Hanzo settles on his knees again, squirming uncomfortable until he found a position to sit in that wasn’t painful. All the while giving the man a fairly dead look, but not a bitter one. Just because he said he would talk doesn’t mean he would be an open book. Ever. To answer Jesse’s question, Hanzo simply shook his head. To be honest, he really didn’t want to talk, now that he remembered the events of the day earlier was still fairly fresh in his mind. And surely Jesse’s as well.  
  
J: "I see. Well," Jesse looked Hanzo up and down. The other really was gorgeous. Shit, if he was blatantly honest with himself, he'd keel over for those cheek bone and those pecs. Heck, the lack of humanity didn't even seem to bother him. He'd known he was always a weird one.

It felt good to have a name to call them by. Made it more personable rather than... malevolent.

'mmm,' thinking on malevolence Jesse remembered the events that happened earlier in the day.

"Are you in pain anywhere?"  
  
H: Hanzo could feel those eyes on him as the silence stretched on seeming endlessly. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t tear his gaze away as he watched the man’s eyes just keep drifting up and down his form. It made him want to squirm and rush the glass like he’d done before, but he couldn’t. Jesse said Hanzo could be as rude as he wanted, but he knows otherwise. Hanzo knows to pick his battles. Blinking out of his thoughts once the man finally spoke up, Hanzo tries to think of how best to answer him. He knows exactly what Jesse is talking about, and preferred not to acknowledge. “...yes”  
  
J: "I can do something to help with that. If you're willin' not to chop my arm off." Jesse knew too well just how cold Moira's touch was. The way those icy fingers much like claws as they moved over exposed skin.

Nothing close to a gentle touch. It made you want to recoil and shy away. Tense up in the face of a needle when that would only make it more painful.

After accepting the job, he was required a thorough health analysis before he would be allowed in the containment rooms. Sorely, his luck had failed him when it had been Dr. O'deorain that stood in front of him staring at him with her ghoulish eyes just waiting for him to strip. Because for some reason, a full body exam required that level of uncomfortable exposure.

Still, at least he wasn't quite forced into it. No, nothing like what Hanzo or the others before him had to survive through.

The cold numb feeling he'd learned too wrap around himself resurfaced oon instinct, but he found it down. He wanted to feel the fear, the disgust.

  
Standing he walked back to the cabinet and withdrew another nanobiotics canister. It was small, a bit smaller than his hand and the yellow cross on its face beamed with a positivity he didn't quite receive. "I can drop this in there with ya'."  
  
H: Hanzo tilted his head just slightly at Jesse’s suggestion. True there was pain, and it was hardly dull, but it still wasn’t so great that he would want to put anything else down there. Especially not in front of Jesse. He closely observed the little canister as Jesse brought it to the glass, considering it. He would appreciate the relief, especially if the doctors planned to continue their explorations there, but it still struck him as somewhat uncomfortable. Then again, he must consider that Jesse is continuing to extend his kindness by offering it to him. “How...do I use it?”  
  
J: "See this here? You twist it and the whole thing pops up. It'll start productin' waves of nanobiotic heals. You just sit there and feel better." Jesse began to scale the ladder next to the tank, it rattled under his weight as he ascended.

At the top, he started to type the code in to retract the lasers when he paused. 'should get an answer first.'  
  
H: Hanzo couldn’t help but lean forward just slightly, brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of it. Just sit and feel better? There’s no way. It wasn’t like anything Hanzo had ever heard of. Back at home it was mostly ointments and edible tablets, but nothing quite like this. Looking up as the lights of the lasers disappeared, Hanzo slowly rose to the surface of the water. He’d never actually done it before; see the surface of the water while the tank was still full, meeting the man while he stood on the platform. It was the very opportunity that Hanzo had been imagining for escape, and Jesse must know what he’s doing. He was making himself extremely vulnerable. If only Hanzo could pull the man in, hold him captive until the doctors came back...perhaps... Hanzo considered this as he looked up at Jesse from the water, fins keeping him afloat. Slowly, he approached the platform and held onto it. The medicine all but forgotten. Perhaps...  
  
J: Jesse stayed near the terminal a bit coy, "So do you want it or not?" He wasn't so oblivious to not recognize the consequences that went along with edging a hair too close to the water and those clawed fingers. He'd stand far away with fingers at the ready to press the emergency laser restore.

Even though he was opting to be kind and maybe a bit charitable to Hanzo, he wasn't stupid or blind. He could see the twitch of tense muscles along Hanzo's jaw. The sign of a predator ready to pounce. A man didn't rack up a wanted bounty like his without having a bit more seasoning under his belt.  
  
H: Hanzo watched the man closely, almost like a game at this point. He knows this man isn’t stupid, and he knows he’d probably already figured out Hanzo’s plan of action. He couldn’t help the little smirk that played at the corners of his mouth. It felt nice to be intimidating for once. It brought a pleased twitch of his fins that lifted him just a bit further out of the water, holding more confidently onto the ledge. Jokes aside though, Hanzo couldn’t do what he planned now that Jesse was all too cautious, so he may as well try the strange medicine. With a smug little smile, he lifted his arm out of the water, extending his hand. “Please”  
  
J: Jesse watched as Hanzo seemed to roll the idea around in his head. This little game of back and forth was more fun than he got on a day to day basis. He could almost say the little twinkle in Hanzo's eye and that there-but-not smile was 'Cute'. Almost. 

He knelt down and placed the canister on the platform and poised to shove it forward similar to the was a Curling athlete would. The metal cylinder slide with a sound scrape and came to a stop perfectly at Hanzo's extended fingers. Deadeye wasn't his nickname for nothing.  
  
H: Not unlike a cat, Hanzo snatched the canister off the platform just as it reached his fingertips, pulling it close for him to observe. much like everything here on the surface, it was sleek and smooth, artificially shaped metal that held a little weight in his hand. And there was the latch on top, which Hanzo hesitated a moment before doing as Jesse had instructed. With a metallic hum, the canister sprung to life and emitted a beautiful golden mist that enveloped Hanzo. For just a moment he was startled by the entirely alien technology, only to feel his muscles, mind and body relax. His narrowed eyes, always focused and calculating, began to relax as his pupils dilated and his eyelids felt heavy. And best of all, it soothed the pain in an instant. Content to hold the mechanism in his hands, Hanzo slowly drifted away from the platform to allow it to soothe him.  
  
J: A smile quirked at the corner of his lips. Nano tech was in a word; unbelievable. Until you experience it oneself that is. It was like floating on a cloud made of cannabis with twelve masseuses giving you the best damn massage of your life.

Jesse listened to that familiar him as Hanzo slowly waded in the water enveloped by the gentle glow. "Careful, that stuff can become mighty addicting it you lose yourself to it." He warned. That was a fact he'd found out first hand. Breaking himself of it had been hell. Especially with the arthritis in his left knee that like to flare up every now and then.

Jesse closed the laser grid again and hopped down the ladder two rings at a time. His legs were long enough to handle three but, that was just being impatient. He crossed the room and pulled out the fish again hoisting the huge bucket up to the landing.

Cautiously, Jesse edged a bit closer to the water. Hanzo was thoroughly distracted, he could see that very well. With his hand he tied the two fish onto the platform and dropped them into the water. They both swam like their lives depended on it, the energy carrying through the water. A perk of cryostasis; things were still alive after ya thawed them.  
  
H: The soft glow of the device felt like absolute heaven to Hanzo as it easily wiped away years and years of anger and tense anxiety, even the most recent torturous events at the lab became dull memories as every tense muscle in his body relaxed for probably the first time in decades. Slowly, Hanzo sank back into the water just in time for the laser grid to hum back to life, briefly breaking Hanzo from his reverie. It's a good thing the device could withstand water.

Looking back up, remembering to keep an eye on Jesse, Hanzo was surprised when something suddenly splashed into the water. For a moment he almost thought it could be Jesse himself until he caught the familiar sight of two figures whipping about the water in a frantic search for refuge. The fish from earlier, miraculously brought to life somehow. For just a moment, Hanzo could only stare. 

But the initial shock wore off once he realized what exactly Jesse wanted him to do, and Hanzo still hadn't exactly made up his mind to do it yet. Hanzo sank back to the bottom to nestle the device securely in the sand, remaining in its heavenly glow as he watched the fish. Well, if he's going to follow through on his plan, he might as well start regaining the strength to do it. After a moment of hesitation, watching the fish in complete stillness, Hanzo suddenly lunged forward and snatches a fish straight out of the water, keeping the writhing thing skewered in his claws as a little blood clouded the water. With his catch, Hanzo retreated back into his corner to pick the fish apart and eat as neatly as he could without any proper utensils.  
  
J: He figured the kindest thing to do after supplying the canister was to at least leave the food out. Either Hanzo still wanted to abstain from eating wasn't his business, but he'd prefer if that toned and sharp body stayed healthy. It was quite the eye candy to look at while they sat around doing nothing. Versus the alternative especially. The little voice in the back of his mind that whispers like a crackling fire only just reminds him maybe he's doing it for the good of his own smothered heart.  
  
After sauntering his way down the ladder and to his beloved chair he could feel a bit of the tenseness roll off his shoulders. He sighed and search the darkness til his fingers found his water bottle. The cold crisp water was good on his tongue and throat.

Hanzo seemed contented to eat his way through one fish and then the second. Some bits and pieces smeared across his cheeks in his frenzy but, Jesse kept his chortles under wraps. With the saliva dripping from Hanzo's lips and the way he placed a death grip on the struggling snapper he looked rejuvenated by its life force.

He knew it felt good to just enjoy yourself, he couldn't blame Hanzo for letting himself relax and give in. All that stubborn spite and self-destructive behavior forgotten.

As he watched and relaxed in his chair the chill of the air conditioned lab settled around him and he folded his arms across himself to barricade its assault. Before he realized the lights of the lab flashed on and the good doctor walked in a bright smile on her face like a mornings dawn.

And with that dawn a dread followed one nurtured by his growing compassion for the other living being floating in the tank lined in blue.  
  
H: It was astounding the relief that one small meal brought Hanzo after his stretch of days long hunger. After so long it seemed his hunger had been numbed and the only reminder he had was the occasional rumble in his stomach. Lately though, it would be all but completely forgotten as hunger gave way to nausea. Crippling anxiety that always came before the days that would leave bile in Hanzo's throat by the end. He's lucky he didn't have food in his stomach to regurgitate. At least until now. 

The lights came on again all too soon. Hanzo hadn't even realized in the events of the night that it all passed by all too quickly, and by the time Hanzo had finished his meal, his stomach clenched around it at the sight of those artificial fluorescent lights. The biotic field no longer held its effect either, every muscle in his body once more tightened and tense, ready to fight for yet another day. 

And fight he did. For that day, and the next, and every single one that followed. Every day he found more strength to fight the serum, which never mattered in the end. The dosage would continue to rise as long as Hanzo fought and made strides in his strength. Every day was a new fight too. Sometimes their scalpels and cotton and needles found his face, explored his arms and legs, his fins, his back, his chest and stomach most of all, and occasionally revisit the space between his legs. Every day for what could have been months, Hanzo never stopped fighting, only four times losing his dinner as a result. 

But then, every night, Jesse was there. With every day brought the end, where those strong, warm arms were ready to take Hanzo's limp and trembling body into their embrace and take him away from the pain. Every night, he would linger in them for just a little bit longer before returning to the water. Just a little bit longer, minute by minute, Hanzo would be allowed a gentle touch. For that, more than anything, he was eternally grateful.

It was that embrace that Hanzo had to look forward to, to live another day to be allowed the experience. It was a small thing, but here in the lab, it was all he had.  
  
Most nights after the daily experiments, Hanzo would sleep the entire night through, leaving only an hour or two for he and Jesse's time together. But sometimes their talks weren't so fleeting. As Hanzo's sleep became plagued with constant nightmares, he managed to afford more nights spent alone with the man, who he'd begun to learn more and more about. His life, how he ended up here, who he used to be and why is is who he is. In return, Hanzo would only share little snippets of his life. Small and insignificant things about his family, but not his home, or his culture. That, even with Jesse, he would not share. But he'd come close. Out of all the people in the world, Hanzo came to enjoy Jesse's company quite a bit. Over time, they would manage to make each other smile just a little bit more. Smiling was hard to come by. 

As they became closer and shared more, Hanzo's days darkened rapidly. Hanzo had entirely forgotten what sunlight looked like, what it felt like on his skin, the sound of rain, the sway of the currents. What it feels like not to be in pain. The tank grew smaller every single day, and eventually, surely it would close in and suffocate Hanzo in its icy walls. Hanzo had begun to pace the tank when he wasn't sleeping or completely numb. His skin became a ghostly pale without the sunlight or proper nutrients for that matter, and hardly moving every day had begun to take its toll on his muscles and his mind. His eyes became tired, and within the last couple weeks, they were dead. Hanzo could afford a couple nights to talk with Jesse, but some nights became every single night, devoid of sleep.

Hanzo's life had become unbearable, lonely, dead. His world became one where all he had was Jesse, and Jesse was all he wanted. He knew the way the man would look at him. When Jesse thought Hanzo was sleeping, he could see those warm eyes just watching him, feel that gaze travel up and down his body. Hanzo welcomed it, moved in ways he knew the man would like. He would continue to chase that touch until the laser barrier was removed and Jesse would finally give in to his wants. Hanzo wanted the man to want him. Hanzo wanted freedom, and if this was the way to do it, then so be it.  
  
J:After that night time seemed to have picked up. He wasn't trudging through each day like a monotonous repeating worm hole full of quicksand. Hanzo created a chaos in his nights and a point of focus.

Thinking on one certain night he laughed. The soft kind you give when looking back on a fond memory. It never failed that the both of them could retaliate at a joke or wise cracked not-blatantly-an-insult with perfect accuracy and that simplistic coalescence over time began to weigh on him.

Sins alive he couldn't help himself. Hanzo was like a forbidden fruit right in front of him. For Jesse it was impossible to hold such a gorgeous body in front of him every night and expect him not to break. It was a fact not helped by Hanzo's flirtatious language and the way he knowingly tease him with wave upon wave of his hips. 

In those repeated nights Jesse fell bit by bit. Imagining Hanzo under him and bared free as he stroked himself, that was how it started. But, then he couldn't hold back. The fantasies grew alongside Hanzo's teasing's. He blamed it on the months standing dry spell the job had caused on him. He was a starving man with Hanzo laid out before him steaming and ready.  
Some nights in the darkest corner he could even dip his hand low and stroke as he and Hanzo bantered back and forth about the most mundane things. One night He knew he'd gotten caught. A deep sickening flush rose on his cheeks. Both in embarrassment and fear. Jesse knew the other lived a sensual nightmare, having his own sex mutilated and molested too many times for him to count. And yet here he sat obscenely bared in front of the other and lost to all sense of right or wrong in favor of his own pleasure.

Still, before he could react to Hanzo's gaze the other swam closer merely laying a searing stare at him, perhaps in efforts to make out his silhouette in the dark shadows and with that it was enough for him to peak. Just that look. He felt ashamed and bothered all in one.

After that night, he realized something that hurt worse than a bullet to the heart.

Jesse had begun to feel for Hanzo. The walls and behaviors he'd spent so long carefully building up and fortifying around his tender heart had been sliced clean through by the quick wit and snark Hanzo shared with only him. He doesn't know quite when it really started--probably the moment he decided to treat the other nice--but, seeing Hanzo day in and day out sliced and mutilated, he started to share the pain. He could feel each cut and every increased dose of that sleeper liquid.

One day he wanted to do something. Stop the doctors but he felt pinned, doped up under that noxious sedative just as Hanzo was. The least he could do was make every touch, every moment that crossed with Hanzo a kind and gentle one. Smuggling biotic canisters was worth the risk--as pitifully small as it was--to see Hanzo at least that bit more comfortable. Angela probably knew but, let it slide. Knowing her.

Another night came and Angela left him with a soft smile and the request to clean the tank yet again. It'd been months since the last and it needed it but, to Jesse it was an opportunity.  
  
H:Hanzo thought he was prepared for what he had to do. Thought he was ready to do whatever it took, until that one night that he caught the slightest of movements in the man's silhouette in the darkness. He fell quiet then, expecting the moment to pass and for them to agree not to speak of it, but his eyes betrayed him by wandering still. He'd never known much about humans, and if they wanted to study how his body worked so intimately, he thought he at least deserved a glimpse. In the moment though, it was mostly out of shock that he leaned toward the glass and narrowed his eyes, as if to confirm he was seeing what he was really seeing. Then again, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing either. 

Hanzo grew quieter in the days and nights following. He had been getting weaker and weaker as the days wore on, but since that night, he became quieter too. His thoughts of the man started to change, but he wasn't exactly sure how. Jesse was still a friend. That much was made apparent by the way he fidgeted and hid himself upon being caught. Then again, he reminded himself, he is not here to make friends. Hanzo has one goal, and that is to escape. This only made that plan all the easier. Seducing the man would clearly not be a challenge. Besides, Hanzo no longer had enough mind to really care about it. Nothing mattered much except escape. 

When the day finally came for Hanzo's opportunity to make his move, he behaved. Today he would need enough strength to move, which meant less sedatives. As the water slowly drained from the tank, Hanzo sat leaned against the corner, limp and utterly defeated, still drunk on the remaining serum in his blood. He felt sluggish, and the pain was immense, but he could move. That's what mattered. Hanzo only lifted his head and looked up as those all too familiar boots splashed into the water pooled at the bottom of the tank.  
feigning a smile, Hanzo lifted his arms, welcoming Jesse's embrace.  
  
J:At first he'd thought Hanzo was sleeping--god forbid Jesse actually let himself think they were dead-- as he walked into the ankle deep water to retrieve the other. The soft smile he received upon taking the Hanzo into his arms also wasn't what he'd expected. Darlin' thing must be really tuckered out or the sedative might still be alive in his veins.

Either way, he took care as he always did laying Hanzo out on his nightly perch and spreading the respiration gel onto his gills. Hanzo proved so, compliant...so reserved. It ran chills down Jesse's spine. It wasn't like him. The experience was lightyears away from their previous exchange during the tank cleaning.

He was a bit at a loss, "Hanzo? You alright there?"  
  
H: It seemed too quick, too brief that Hanzo was in the man's arms before he was laid onto the cool, smooth leather of Jesse's seat. The same exact spot Jesse reclined in every single night that they spent together, and now it was Hanzo's turn. He felt privileged, in some odd sense. It was a very comfortable place to be, despite the struggle against the gravitational pull. 

He'd barely even noticed the cool gel when the man spread it across his gills, lifting his arms merely as a mindless habit and nothing else. His head felt clouded and full of cotton, the sedative still going fairly strong. At least he could think somewhat clearly and move. At least he got to feel Jesse's touch. At the sound of his voice, Hanzo looked back up into the man's eyes, the faintest smile returning to him as he offers him a slow nod to answer his question, his voice was slow and almost quiet when he spoke. "mhm..why? Is something the matter..?"   
There was a bit of a lilt to his voice as well, situating himself into the seat as he spoke. Tucking his legs in against himself in a submissive fashion, his back arched just the slightest.  
  
J: "Ya' just seem more withdrawn than normal. Like your still locked up in your head. Is the serum still bothering you?" Jesse offered his water bottle to Hanzo. He knew the cool water would help, or at least soon Hanzo's throat and skin.

Reluctant to leave Hanzo's side just yet, much like a protective puppy he figured and swayed in place.  
  
H: Hanzo gratefully took a drink of water, the shocking coolness awakening Hanzo's systems just a little bit. It pulled him out of his own head, if only just a little. Still, it was nothing against the effects of the serum. Not that Hanzo thought it would be a problem. It maybe slowed him down a bit, but he thought he would seem otherwise fine apart from the pain. Pain wasn't visual though.   
Setting the bottle back down, Hanzo shook his head a little, giving McCree another little smile as he tucked a lock of hair behind his ear fin.   
"Thank you..I'm alright. Just slow."  


J: "Take it easy. Don't want ya to stress your system too much." He tucked bthe bottle back into it's place and turned as he spoke. The tank did need to be cleaned no matter how badly he wanted to stand at Hanzo's side indefinitely.

Once inside he began the process of scrubbing the areas the system couldn't reach. As he worked he lost track of time, sweat built up on his back and brow. It had to be hot summer up above, cause it's been getting hotter down in the halls. He took a moment to strip his shirt and tie his hair back out of his face before returning to finish the wall he was on.  
  
H: Disappointed as he was that Jesse couldn't stay at his side for the whole time, he knew there would be moments that could still be shared between them while the technology finished the job for him. Hanzo would have to play his cards right if he wanted to take advantage of the small window of opportunity he had. This was it. If he couldn't do something now, he doesn't think he'll manage to survive (mentally or physically) until the next cleaning. 

But damn if that didn't mean he couldn't at least enjoy the show before him. As always, Hanzo did not favor humans for many reasons. But Jesse's physique was certainly attractive enough to replenish Hanzo's extremely deprived mind. Even back at home, he wasn't allowed to indulge himself under threat of his father's hand. Hanzo was royalty, and nobody was allowed to lay a hand on royalty. The price of that is the realization that not only did Hanzo want to escape and use the man as a tool to do so, but he wanted that touch. He wanted to feel those hands around him, wanted something that wasn't painful, cold or metallic inside him. He needed it. 

In Hanzo's weakened state, his frail mind was allowed to wander as he watched a shirtless Jesse work inside the tank. He stretched himself out along the seat with a heavy sigh, a light blush dusting his cheeks.  
  
J: The physical part of the job mostly done Jesse stood up straight and gave his brow a whip to remove the sweat. The walls of the tank were much cleaner after a good scrub by his hands. Though, by how the glass shined a bit more than normal he guessed he might have overdone it just a small amount. Still as he worked he couldn't stop thinking about how Hanzo had to look at these, smeared in grime and he scrubbed a bit harder because of it.

That part finally finished he exited the tank and began the systems sand cleaning sprays. It would take a moment before he needed to activate the next process. In the meantime, Jesse went to his chair and Hanzo in it to retrieve his water bottle. He needed a drink badly. The cold water was like a kiss of revitalizing life and he felt it crawl down his overheated body.

He stood by Hanzo and quietly watched the sprayers sway. If Hanzo was slow, he wouldn't force him to talk.  
  
H: "finally" Hanzo thought as the man climbed out of that dreaded tank and made his way back over to his waiting charge. For a moment, as Hanzo's brain drifted through limbo, he allowed his eyes to wander while Jesse wasn't looking. While he was close enough to see every muscle that rippled under the skin, every hair on his body (something quite unheard of to his kind), messy dark hair and those eyes- warmer still, seemingly lacking the cold hard shadow that had loomed over them when they first met. Another sigh passed Hanzo's lips. 

But the silence stretched on. Hanzo couldn't think of what he could possibly say, not in the state he was in. Hanzo had never been good with his words. But the air began to feel heavier as he felt the tension. He knew what Jesse wanted. Knew that Jesse thought about him with a hand between his legs and he could only dream of what went on in his mind when he did. He knew what the man wanted, and all he had to do was give permission. 

Like a knife through the silence, Hanzo then spoke quietly, laid on his hip and leaning against the back of the seat. 

"I know you think about me.."

**Author's Note:**

> This rp was inspired by some Korean art that I can't find the original link to. Basically it was a few images in the comic strip style that showed Hanzo in a tank like containment with flowing silks/fabrics drifting around him and a sinister looking McCree speaking outside of the container.
> 
> Thanks all, hope you enjoyed! Kudo and comment please :)


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